Advocate (2014)

This work explores the constancy of time through rotation. The rise and melt of the two bodies illustrates the advocacy of each body for the other over time.

Advocate

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

In To Selves (2014)

In To Selvesis a collaboration between composer Esin Gündüz and choreographer Melanie Aceto in which both women dance and produce sound. Starting from a place of total synchronization, the performers gradually diverge, using music and movement to forge their own separate identities. The piece is intensely corporeal – two bodies moving and resonating in space. This physicality is emphasized by Gündüz’s frequent use of ingressive phonation, or singing while inhaling. Listeners cannot help but embody this gritty, belabored sound, feeling the physical effort of it themselves, and the subsequent relief that comes from breathing normally. The result is a visceral confrontation between anxiety and catharsis, an affect not far removed from Metté’s darker, more disorienting images.

photo: Paul Hokanson

In to Selves

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

Cloud (2012)

Choreographer: Melanie Aceto

Artistic Directors: Melanie Aceto and Michael Rogers

Conceived and created in collaboration with architect/designer Michael J. Rogers, Cloud utilizes over 3,000 square feet of plastic to explore dynamic form, surface environment and the perception of the human form. Choreographed by Melanie Aceto, both the movement material and the arrangement of movement structures utilize the extreme volume of plastic material to create grandeur in space, time and form. The negotiation of the material by the six dancers allows them to move on top of, underneath and with the various sizes of plastic in order to repurpose the material as set, prop, costume and barrier. Non-narrative in structure, the arrangement and transformation of events in Cloud generate images that lead the viewer through a visceral journey.

Cloud (6 min. excerpt)

Cloud (full length)

Trio for the Common Man (2012)

Trio for the Common Man is a four-section work commissioned by the Society for New Music set to an original score by Mark Olivieri.

photo: Paul Hokanson

Trio for the Common Man

Choreographer: Melanie Aceto

Composer: Mark Olivieri

Dancers: Melanie Aceto, Alaina Olivieri and Heather Roffe

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

photo: Paul Hokanson

Portage (2010)

Portage (2010)

Choreographer: Melanie Aceto

Composer: Marc Mellits, Red

Portage is a four-movement work danced to a score for two marimbas by composer Marc Mellits. Made in consultation with the composer, each section of Portage explores the musical landscape. The opening section of round and punctuated marimba introduces the dancers through lofty, woven jogs and establishes solo and duet spinning.

Section II illustrates the repetitious shifting of the melody up and down the scale by incrementally shifting bodies down the diagonal. Each person is moved segment by segment just as the marimba is punctuated note by note.

Section III embodies the resonance, the prolongation of sound, through continual and softly decorated spinning. The calming sight and sound provide contrast to the fourth section’s drive.

The fourth and final section is continual motion in solo, duet and whole group form. It explores the use of both line and circularity and uses the music as inspiration for its dynamic structure.

Portage (excerpt)

Choreographer: Melanie Aceto

Composer: Marc Mellits (Red)

Portage (2010)

Full Length Video

photo: Renee Conners

photo: Renee Conners

photo: Renee Conners

photo: Renee Conners

Swarm...Churn (2009)

Swarm…Churn is danced to “Tight Sweater”, a six-movement work by composer Marc Mellits.

A stimulating study of movement complexity and rhythmic interplay, Swarm…Churn weaves nine bodies in motion through the musical terrain. Choreographed in consultation with the composer, each movement is a strong and direct response to the music. The choreography complements, highlights and expands upon both the detail and of the sensation of the musical composition. Swarm explores backwards locomotion and unison punctuation against group scatter. Reminiscent of drum corps, Reel is a constantly changing whirl of small and large group circles. Drift, the most emotionally human of all of the movements, presents a tender intimacy of one against the group. Bloom is thicker in texture, but light and playful in mood. Pushing the limits of the viewer’s ability to withstand lack of unison, Churn, the final movement, is an exploration of continuous motion.

The use of the music for this piece was made possible by the Center for the Moving Image in the department of Media Study at the University at Buffalo with the generous support of the Liberace Foundation and The Robert and Carol Morris Performing Arts Fellowship. Choreographer Melanie Aceto was selected to participate in this film/dance project in collaboration with filmmaker Yuichiro Yamada who made a documentary of the making of this piece.

Swarm...Churn (excerpt)

Choreographer: Melanie Aceto

Composer: Marc Mellits (Tight Sweater)

Swarm...Churn (full length)

Reel

Reel

Knit (2008)

Choreography: Melanie Aceto

Composer: Ping Jin

Dancers: Melanie Aceto and Jenna Delmonte

Knit explores the interlacing of two bodies; the physical and emotional connections of being in very close proximity. Each section embraces the melodies and themes in Ping Jin’s compositions that are based on traditional Chinese folk songs.

Section one is a Chinese lullaby indicative of a moving willow tree; the bodies seamlessly interlace like the branches of the willow tree. Section two is based on a Tibetan folk song with solid tone color; the dancers take on a more combative and grounded mood and movement vocabulary. The Rising Half Moon, section three, depicts the Chinese relationship to the moon, always as a reflection on the river; the two bodies are reflected in one other. Tibetan Dance, section four, the two bodies dance playfully and energetically.